


The In-between

by my_shangri_la



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/M, Friendly flirting, Girl Meets Texas - Part 3, awkward date night, nosy friends, unfortunate triangles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-12
Updated: 2016-06-12
Packaged: 2018-07-14 13:59:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7174649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_shangri_la/pseuds/my_shangri_la
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SPOILERS FOR GIRL MEETS TEXAS PARTS 1-3! This is just a two scenes that we didn’t get in parts 2 and 3 that might have been nice to see. Maya and Lucas have a post-date conversation. One-shot!</p>
            </blockquote>





	The In-between

00 Near a fire pit in Texas 00

_Awkward. ___

Everything was awkward.

Riley had intentionally dropped a bomb and then took Farkle with her, leaving Maya and Lucas to deal with the aftermath.

And the aftermath… well-

Maya was pretty sure Lucas had almost kissed her.

0

They sat in silence watching the flames eat away at the logs.

"I think falling off that bull must have jostled your brain", Maya muttered finally.

"Why's that?" Lucas chuckled.

"It's the only excuse I can think of- someone really should have made you see a doctor or something."

"You think I almost- because I have a head injury?" he gave her an incredulous look even though she refused to look anywhere but at the fire.

"I really can't think of any other believable reason."

He shot her another annoyed look. “Really?”

“Do you have a better answer than ‘I don’t know’, Lucas?!” she said exasperatedly.

“What do you want me to say, Maya?”

“I don’t know. I’m good with pretending none of this happened”, she muttered.

He frowned, wondering if that was even going to be possible. “What if I don’t want to do that?” he asked finally.

00 Back in New York, at Topanga’s 00

"You two might get somewhere if you actually said stuff to each other!" Zay called, rolling his eyes. Riley and Charlie had finally left for their date awhile ago – long enough that their movie was almost over. But the tension between Lucas and Maya had yet to dissipate.

"Or if you and Farkle weren't watching us like bugs in a microscope dish", Maya muttered.

"Can't", Zay refuted, holding up his phone to take a picture. "You two are stubborn. And when you decide to act like this date didn't actually happen, I'll have proof."

Farkle just made a face and nodded. "He's got a point. Do you guys like each other or what?"

Maya took a calming breath so she wouldn't catapult over the hair to tackle her idiot genius friend. "Lucas-"

"Yep, let's go", he nodded and stood up.

"Go where?" Zay frowned.

"You two, stay!" Maya stood up as well, turning and pointing at their well-meaning, but currently annoying friends.

"Harsh", Zay complained.

Maya just bit her lip to hide a smile. If she started humoring them now, they'd never stop. Lucas followed her out of Topanga's bakery.

"Where are we going?" he finally asked as they headed towards the subway.

"I'm going to check on Riley", she answered. "You can go back if you want... Or to home so you aren't late for curfew. I just didn't want to listen to the commentary anymore. In fact, I declare our date officially over."

Lucas raised an eyebrow, but stayed quiet. _It was barely ten o’clock._ He walked beside her until they got to the steps that lead down to the subway, and pulled her to the side of the railing out of the walkway. "Are we really not going to talk about this?"

"Talk about what? That?" she pointed back to the direction they'd come from. "That was awful, and you know it. I dumped two smoothies on your head!"

He grinned. "We both know I kind of deserved that."

"Duh."

"Maya-"

"Look, we don't have to do that again, okay?" she interrupted.

"Wait, what?"

"Lucas, why did you even go out with me?" Maya shook her head.

"Because you-"

She groaned loud enough to get him to shut up and then stare at her like she was crazy. "Zay was right, Lucas. You would do anything for your friends. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but... I'm gonna ask you something, and I don't want you to answer me until you've actually thought about it for a while."

He frowned. "Okay?"

"Did you agree to go on a date because you don't know how you feel about me? Or did you just do it because it's what you thought I wanted?"

"Maya, I wouldn't-"

"Lucas, I know you still don't know what's going on between you and Riley. And honestly... I don't think she knows what she's doing with you right now either."

"You're angry at her, aren't you?" he asked quietly.

She let out a laugh and shrugged helplessly. _He would be the one to notice that._ "This is who she is. She wants to fix everything that's broken. Even when she shouldn't."

"You aren't-"

"Yeah, I am", she answered softly, looking away. "And I love that she believes anything can be fixed or changed, but sometimes-" Maya sighed. "Yeah, I'm kind of mad, but I don't feel like I'm allowed." _… because she liked the guy her best friend had an unofficial ‘thing’ with._

"Riley shouldn't have told me how you felt. Even if she meant well- even if you did give me the New York version of a speed date when we met on the subway-"

Maya smirked. "That was fun."

"I know you would do anything for Riley... even hiding however you felt about me. You never would have said anything, would you?" he frowned down at her.

"What?"

"If Riley hadn't liked me... you still wouldn't have said anything."

She made a face. "I don't know. I'd like to say that I would have eventually, but really? I doubt it."

"Why not?"

"I don't usually get what I want, Lucas. I'm used to it. It's just... easier not to want anything sometimes."

"Maya-"

"Besides, we ended up being friends. I wouldn't want to mess that up. Look, I meant what I said in Texas", she said quietly. "You're- I don't think you'd hurt anyone on purpose. But let's not do this, okay? I don't want you to go out with me because it’s what you think I want, or you don't want to tell me you don't feel that way about me. And I don't want to go out with you when you and Riley are practically a romantic relationship disaster right now. You guys need to figure out what you are to each other, and that can't be based on my feelings or because I thought you guys were too alike to date."

"You heard Zay tell Farkle he didn't think me and Riley act like brother and sister", Lucas frowned.

"Yeah... And we should really teach our friends how to whisper", she shook her head and pushed back from the railing. "But it doesn't matter what I think... or what Zay and Farkle think. You and Riley need to decide for yourselves."

Maya started walking down the stairs and Lucas followed her.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly once they stopped in the platform.

"I'm fine."

"You don't always have to fine, Maya."

"Yeah, I do."

"Can I ask you something?"

"This'll be good", she muttered under her breath. "Go for it."

"What about Josh?" he asked curiously. "You like him."

"I- what are you asking?"

"Do you have the same feelings for me that you have for him?"

"No", she answered immediately, shaking her head. "I do have feelings for him... But it's different. I've known him for a long time, but I don't see him very often. Even with him at NYU, it's only about once a month. Last year was the first time in a few years that I'd seen him. It was just... I thought he was hot, and my brain stopped working. I was a mess", she laughed under her breath. She probably wouldn't have admitted that if they hadn't been walking and he'd been looking her straight in the face. “And he made it worse by having a great personality.”

"What did you think about me when you first saw me?"

"Well, you didn't give me jelly knees, that's for sure", she quipped.

He rolled his eyes. "That doesn't answer my question. What did you think when you first saw me?"

"I hate when you do that!" she complained.

"And I hate when you repeat the last thing you said before the question I ask, but you do it all the time", he smirked. "You know... meeting you was kind of like being run over by a bulldozer."

"Great", she muttered.

He laughed. "Not in a bad way. You were different than any of the girls in Texas. I wanted to actually talk to you, but you dumped me... and then you let Riley fall in my lap.”

"What are you-?"

"You think I didn't notice you? Really?"

"Hard to miss a bulldozer", she rolled her eyes.

"I meant it as a compliment."

She gave him a sad look and shook her head. "Yikes."

"You're still worried about Riley, aren't you?" he asked as they waited for their bus to pull up.

She nodded. "Honestly, I don't think she was really ready to let go of the idea of you being her prince charming. And for whatever reason, she talked herself into pretending that what I thought about you guys was true. And who knows... maybe part of that was just wishful thinking on my part so I wouldn't feel guilty."

"Which is why you don't feel like you can be angry at her", he said frowned. "Because despite what she said about always being your friend, you don't really believe that. Riley loves you Maya. And she started this, for whatever reason."

"Oh, I know why. It's why I'm mad. Because it was still my choice to make. And instead of letting me make it, she pushed me in a corner."

"Riley and I have never really been ready to date... whether it’s because of the timing, or because that's just not who we are. We would have figured it out eventually. And you... you weren't ready for me to know how you feel. I wasn't her place to do it for you. The last few days might have been less awkward if you had actually made your own decision."

"Maybe", she shrugged. "Or if you hadn't picked a fight with me in Texas."

He looked at her incredulously. "Really? You're blaming me now?"

She grinned as the subway train pulled into the station. "Hey, buddy. You leaned."

"Okay, my fault", he muttered.

"Mhmm", she hummed.

They stepped onto the subway bus and sat on a bench. It wasn't until the subway car began moving that Lucas spoke again.

"So... this is the most we've talked all week."

She nodded. "Yeah, I noticed that."

“None of us know what we’re doing, do we?” he said with a laugh.

“Nope, not really. I just- friends?” she asked quietly.

He nodded. “Of course.”

She finally let herself relax a bit. “Good.”

0

"This isn't your stop", she commented when Lucas followed her off the bus. 

"I'm walking you to Riley's."

"Hmm."

He raised his eyebrows. "You're not going to argue with me about it?"

"I can", Maya said pointedly. "If you really want me to."

"No, that's okay", he shook his head, a bit amused.

She followed him up the stairs and out of the subway to the sidewalk. It was quieter above ground at this time of night, and she took a moment to look around. “Maybe this night didn’t end as badly as I thought it would”, she admitted.

“It really wasn’t”, he agreed quietly.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Okay, this is just a one-shot.
> 
> The GMW one-shots have also been posted under this pen-name on ff(dot)net – it’s also my account. If you really want to send me a private message to that website just to check, go for it, and I’ll confirm.


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